News for Speakers’ Corner, Sunday 11th December

”Much of your life is determined by your courage to start awkward conversations.”
Frank Warren

1.Last week this scribe felt concern for Steve Maxwell, who had been feeling poorly. I suggested that Steve would fire again next year. Steve chose to make this scribe look silly by excelling today, and holding a big crowd the whole time.

Rather than feel concern for him, we now have to beat him back with a stick.

2. Mr B forgot to introduce his poetry segment. He assures me he won’t forget next week. (The poem will be ‘Child On Top of a Greenhouse’ by Theodore Roethke.)

He did, however, talk for a while about the religious tinge to his atheism. Can a person moved by stories of God still claim to be an atheist? Does a person moved by a story of leprechauns secretly believe in leprechauns? It all became complicated.

Helmut tried to turn the subject to whether or not there was a creator, but Mr B would have none of that. It’s a topic he avoids.

3. Mr B had an obsession with cows today and we don’t know why. Yes, he was critical of them, and three times he was asked what he had against cows. This stark warning below should make his questioners give pause:

4. Other subjects talked about:

– Should the taxpayer fund private schools?

– Should religious institutions pay tax?

– What can be done in areas with high rates of alcoholism and domestic violence?

– What precisely is an agnostic?

5. One of our grasshoppers (Rochelle) recommended a site to help us decide who to vote for: They Vote For You.

6. Philip Feinstein, from the Music For Refugees organisation, dropped by and answered a few tricky questions about refugees in Australia. When he didn’t know the answer he said, ‘I don’t know’. That’s a remarkable ploy and it worked effectively.